Oh Me, Oh My
Got up this morning at my usual “Why am I awake at this ungodly hour” time and headed down to the office.
And stepped into this:
Apparently. the main sewer line to the septic tank was a bit plugged and the combination of shower, laundry, dishwasher, and toilet flushing caused a backup. Thing is, it was OK last night when I closed things up so the backup happened sometime between lights out and lights on this AM.
The water was “clean” but still black water so it’s not just a matter of drying things out. Carpet has to go, padding definitely has to go. Some of the drywall absorbed too much water so it goes. Luckily, damage to personal goods was minimal and the base floor is concrete.
But EVERYTHING has to be moved: office, storage, book cases (full), and other miscellaneous junk that has accumulated over the years.
Well … it was getting time to re-organize and re-configure my workspace anyway.
You’re living the stuff of my nightmares and you have my sympathy. Unmentioned, but certainly on your mind, is a four-letter word: Mold.
Our home was built in 2018 and it came with an interior home sprinkler system. I guess that the argument exists that ending a fire early is a good thing, but that thing worries the bejesus out of me. Never mind having to deal with a flood after an extended period away (or even overnight), a simple trip to Costco could be enough time away to leave you with enough damage to give you weeks if not months of work to recover.
Best wishes.
Many places now require fire sprinklers in residential applications. They are usually connected to the main water source by themselves and not connected to the water source that supplies the rest of the house. This is because you could, say, be taking a shower with that $900 sunflower 18 gpm showerhead and not know a fire started in the air handler in the ceiling in the garage. That showerhead would jeopardize the fire sprinklers if they were on the same line.
In theory and design fire sprinklers are installed in zones, meaning, only the required sprinklers are activated and not all of them. However, it’s not uncommon for stuff like dust and spiderwebs to interfere with the sensor systems on each head.
Me? I have a long record of violating tyrannical laws. If the sprinklers have a cut off valve inside the garage or mechanical room I’d turn it off. If there was no valve I’d install one.
Curious, do you have to have yearly inspections on those sprinklers like commercial properties are required?
AZ is right. And more. My brother was involved with this sort of thing for 10 years. The word you need to know is “encapulation”. It’s a chemical process that is taken to lock in and lock out nasty stuff when the cost of removal is too high. Take those stud walls for example. The drywall will wick the water upward and it must be removed up to height of, at least, 4′. Then high volume ventilation fans are deployed to air out the space. A chemical is sprayed heavily on the studs up to 4′ high and left to dry for 72 hours. Any mold or bacteria in the wood will be locked in place and in the event of another flood the studs will be immune.
Our son in Cape Coral, FL is going through a pretty severe case of this stuff right now. Their house was built in 2012 and the water intrusion was nefarious and unknown for an unknown amount of time. Mold is everywhere and especially in their air conditioning ductwork which spread the spore throughout the house. They didn’t realize how bad it was until the insurance inspector came by and told them they have to leave immediately and they can only take the most important items, computers, etc. No clothing, no kitchenware, no furniture, nothing.
They immediately needed a place to live so they got an AirBnB for a week and that ran out yesterday so they got another one for another week and they found a furnished rental home they can lease for 3 months with the hope the insurance company can figure out of the house can be salvaged or destroyed. Like I said, pretty severe.
Good luck with your impromptu and unwelcome adventure.
oh my, indeed.
So it’s only in your office and not the whole house?
I hope you didn’t lose much that you valued.
So sorry, DT.
So sorry, DT, and for your brother, Ghost. A friend of our son’s has the same problem and has been moving from rental to rental for most of the summer with his wife and 2 very young children.